Charlottesville, Va. – Crutchfield plans to further expand its assortment of pro audio products, which it began offering in February, merchandising executive VP Rick Souder told TWICE.
“We launched the business in February after five months of preparation,” he said. “During that time, we lined up a strong assortment of the top brands, created a large amount of content, and trained a large group of pro audio sales and tech specialists,” he said.
Crutchfield is “pleased at the support we have received from a large number of vendors when they hear about our plans,” Souder continued.
To start, the retailer has focused on mid to higher-end brands, but “the brands we add in the near future will cover the full range of price points,” he said.
“We are in the final stages of adding additional brands and are gaining good traction with our sales,” he added.
Crutchfield currently offers pro audio products from brands such as AKG, Crown, JBL, Cerwin Vega, DBX, Focal, Focusrite, Furman, Gator, K&M Stands, KRK, Lexicon, Mackie, PreSonus, RapcoHorizon, Sennheiser, Shure, Tascam, Whirlwind, Yamaha and Zoom.
Products include live sound and recording equipment as well as microphones. Live sound equipment include PA and commercial speakers, live sound mixers, amplifiers, and monitors. Recording equipment includes studio monitors and mixers, computer recording equipment, pro audio headphones, and home recording bundles.
The company currently offers almost 600 SKUs available online and through phone advisers. A fraction of those SKUs appear in the company’s catalog. The company’s two brick-and-mortar stores don’t yet offer the products.
Souder called pro audio “a natural extension of the car and home audio and video business we have been doing for 40 years,” and he pointed out that many people on the Crutchfield staff are active musicians or are active with live sound in the area. “We want to capitalize on their passion for live sound and home recording to help our customers find the right solutions for their needs,” he said.
